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Joe Hart, Chris Sutton and Adam Crafton are with Mark Chapman to look ahead to the Premier League season, can they cover all 20 clubs in this episode of the Monday Night Club? That depends on whether you count Chris Sutton’s predicted Premier League table.
They reflect on Manchester City’s performance in their Community Shield defeat to Arsenal, what it takes to defend a Premier League title, and whether Xabi Alonso can repeat Antonio Conte’s feat of taking Chelsea from a club that finished tenth to title winners in the following season.
Plus, Hull City assistant head coach Dean Holden discusses their preparations for a return to the top flight.
01:39 – Takeaways from Manchester City’s Community Shield defeat
17:28 – What is so difficult about defending a Premier League title?
21:47 – Can Chelsea challenge for the title?
32:00 – Hull City assistant Dean Holden
38:50 – Coventry and Ipswich’s survival hopes
43:03 – Will Aston Villa start the season with two ‘starting’ goalkeepers?
45:13 – Which club has the most potential to under deliver this season?
Does Guimaraes complete the midfield? Can Arsenal finally win the Champions League? And who is set for a breakout season?
Arsenal begin their first Premier League title defence in 22 years on Friday with a home game against newly promoted Coventry.
The Gunners, who lost in the Champions League final on penalties last season, are also hoping this is the season they can finally be crowned champions of Europe.
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So the English champions face plenty of key talking points before the season – here are the five key ones.
With major rivals City and Liverpool rebuilding under Enzo Maresca and Andoni Iraola respectively, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s methods are tested and trusted after nearly seven years at the helm.
His well-established side will be confident they can defy history and win back-to-back titles for the first time since 1935.
They have also strengthened their squad with a few key signings – not least bringing in Bruno Guimaraes to bolster the midfield and replacing the outgoing Leandro Trossard with a likely upgrade in Greek winger Christos Tzolis.
But centre-back William Saliba’s long-term back injury will be a big blow for a side that won the league while conceding just 27 goals.
And the Gunners’ reliance on set-pieces may face more scrutiny from referees this season after some rule changes and some contentious flashpoints last season.
“Now, we have to show that we belong to this level and we want to increase and take this football club to a different dimension,” Arteta said.
His side were certainly impressive in their first competitive game of the season, sending a clear message of intent to their rivals as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday.
Arsenal are the club with the most European Cup/Champions League appearances in history without ever lifting the trophy – 226 games and counting – and last season’s final loss to PSG on penalties in Budapest will sting for a long time.
They had built the run to Budapest on defensive resilience, conceding only six goals in 14 European matches, and led through Kai Havertz inside six minutes. However, PSG equalised from the penalty spot and eventually won the shootout 4-3, with Gabriel Magalhaes missing the decisive kick.
PSG are now back-to-back champions chasing a three-peat, and Bayern Munich ran PSG very close in their semifinal. But Arteta’s side have shown they can compete with anyone in Europe – they just need to find that extra gear.
Arsenal’s marquee signing of the transfer window was Guimaraes from Newcastle for 75 million pounds ($101.5m). The versatile Brazilian captained his previous club and brings all-round quality and leadership to the Arsenal midfield, easing some of the pressure on Declan Rice, who struggled with injuries during the end of the season and at the World Cup.
Arteta seems to have little doubt that Guimaraes can adapt quickly to a title-defending side. He certainly slotted in well during the Community Shield win over City, impressing with some key tackles and spraying around some beautiful passes.
“He’s a warrior with a tremendous quality as well and intuition and leadership and charisma that is going to help us, that is going to really ignite something different in the team,” Arteta said.
“He’s going to push everybody inside the team as well and that’s the type of player that we need.”
Arsenal fans were hoping that Viktor Gyokeres would be the club’s first reliable number nine for many years.
But while his first season delivered 14 Premier League goals and 21 in all competitions, it was a solid if unspectacular return.
With Arsenal having strengthened around him rather than bringing in competition up front, the pressure is on Gyokeres to kick on from a decent debut year into a prolific one.
Dowman turned 16 in December, and the attacking midfielder scored a sensational stoppage-time winner against Everton in March to become the youngest scorer in Premier League history.
Arteta has been careful to strike a balance between exposure and protection, pointing to school commitments and workload management as much as footballing readiness in limiting Dowman’s appearances.
The youngster is likely to feature more in cup competitions this season, but if he performs to his apparent potential, Arteta may even feel compelled to play him in some of the biggest games of the season.
Profile
RON UNZ
* Born: Sept. 20, 1961, Los Angeles
* Residence: Palo Alto
* Current position: Full-time candidate for governor, on leave from managing his small software company.
* Education: Bachelor’s degrees in physics and history, Harvard University. Phi Beta Kappa. Recipient of a Churchill Science Fellowship to Cambridge University in England, where he studied quantum gravitation under Stephen Hawking.
* Career highlights: In the late 1980s, Unz took a leave of absence from Stanford University, where he was enrolled in a Ph.D. program in theoretical physics. He worked as an associate at a New York City mortgage finance company. In 1988, he founded Wall Street Analytics Inc., a financial services software company.
* Family: Unmarried
The Record
Ron Unz has no public record and brings an unusual, if not unique, background to his quest for California’s top public office. He has a strong record of academic and intellectual achievement. His IQ has been estimated at 214–what one expert calls “one in a million”–and as a teen-ager he won first place in the national Westinghouse talent search competition for a paper on black holes. He is a physicist as well as an expert on the Spartan naval empire.
After working for a New York City mortgage finance company, Unz founded his own small firm that sells specialized computer programs to Wall Street firms. The firm has become highly successful during the last six years and has made Unz a wealthy man.
Although he has no political experience, he says he has long had an interest in politics and has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative think tanks and causes.
Unz says his years in the business world have prepared him well to govern California. “In terms of the sectors of the American economy that create wealth, I have more experience than the other four candidates together, times a factor of a few,” he said.
The Speech: In His Own Words
I believe that the Republican Party stands for clear principles and firm ideas–smaller government, lower taxes, fewer regulations and traditional values–and that Pete Wilson stands for nothing except his political ambition.
Over the past three years, Pete Wilson and the Democrats have enacted the largest state tax increase in American history, deepening our recession and destroying jobs. Pete Wilson and the Democrats have led our Golden State to the brink of ruin. A choice between Pete Wilson and the Democrats means no choice at all for the people of California.
Unlike Pete Wilson, I have not abandoned the mainstream of the Republican Party . . . and its basic principles. . . . Under Ronald Reagan, these were the ideas which swept the nation and the world. I am the Republican candidate for governor.
Unlike Pete Wilson, my affiliation with the Republican Party is not hereditary: I come from a family of Democrats. But when that former Democrat Ronald Reagan transformed the Republican Party into the party of the ordinary working people of America, it became my party.
Unlike Pete Wilson, I didn’t attend an elite prep school, but received my education in the public schools of Los Angeles, back when they still provided an outstanding education for all of our children, rich and poor alike. It was this education which provided me with the tools of opportunity I needed to achieve economic success. But today, I am disgusted by the decay of our school system.
Unlike Pete Wilson, I don’t believe we should raise taxes again and again, until our entrepreneurs and small businesses are faced with some of the highest tax rates in America, driving our jobs and prosperity to other states. . . .
Unlike Pete Wilson, who has been on government and political payrolls for almost 30 years as a lifelong career politician, I come from the private business sector, the part of our economy which actually creates the wealth, provides the jobs and pays the taxes. I understand the value of money and the long hours required to earn it. I reject the waste that is routinely accepted by the special interest politicians who don’t understand what it’s like to earn a living in the real world.
Unlike Pete Wilson, who has little or no comprehension of the industries of tomorrow, I come from a scientific and technological background. I know that California’s future prosperity cannot be based merely upon jobs to build and maintain Pete Wilson’s endless array of future prisons.
I know that the high-technology industries of tomorrow such as computers, telecommunications, biotechnology and the entertainment industry can be the foundation of California’s prosperity. I see that the widespread adoption of telecommuting could make our freeway traffic jams a thing of the past. . . .
My grandparents came to California in the 1920s and 1930s as poor European immigrants, willing to work hard to provide a better life for their children.
I am a native-born Californian who remembers the hope and optimism and endless sense of possibility which the California Dream once meant to us. Our state has the finest climate, enormous natural beauty, and tremendous scientific and technological resources unequaled any place in the world.
The primary obstacle on our road to recovery is the deep failure of our own overgrown state government. Join with me in overcoming this one obstacle, and together we can restore the Golden State which we all remember.
On August 10, 2026, Reporters Without Borders marked five years of Taliban rule with an assessment that Afghanistan has become, in the organization’s words, a prison for information. The report catalogs more than twenty national directives and a long list of provincial decrees, most delivered verbally rather than published, that have progressively stripped Afghan journalism of independence. The starkest new detail is legal rather than administrative. A Code of Criminal Procedure quietly enacted in January 2026 now punishes insulting the country’s supreme leader with thirty nine lashes and a year in prison, and insulting the wider leadership with twenty lashes and six months. Afghanistan sits at one hundred seventy fifth of one hundred eighty countries in RSF’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index, alongside North Korea, Eritrea and China, as global press freedom overall falls to its lowest point in twenty five years.
The Taliban’s approach to media control has moved through recognizable phases since retaking Kabul in August 2021. Eleven rules issued that September gave authorities broad power over what could be published. Restrictions escalated from there: a November 2021 ban on interviewing regime critics, a March 2022 prohibition on rebroadcasting Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and a July 2022 declaration by supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada that criticizing officials contradicts Islamic law, which recast basic accountability as religious transgression. Afghanistan’s 2015 Press Law, the last formal legal protection for journalists, was repealed in April 2024. What followed was an acceleration rather than a pause. September 2024 rules banned live political programming and limited on air guests to Taliban approved voices. A July 2024 law prohibiting broadcast images of living beings has since spread to more than twenty provinces. Women have been pushed out of the profession in stages, from mandatory face covering for television presenters in 2021 to a March 2025 Kandahar order banning women’s voices from radio entirely.
What separates the January 2026 Code of Criminal Procedure from everything that preceded it is durability. Verbal orders and provincial decrees can be denied, reversed or applied unevenly, and much of what RSF documents over the past five years was communicated exactly that way, through unpublished instructions passed down from de facto ministries rather than through any formal legislative process. A criminal code cannot be waved away the same way. The document only became public because it was leaked; the Taliban never announced it. RSF notes the code does not mention journalists specifically, but it offers them no exemption either, meaning ordinary reporting on Taliban governance now falls under the same provisions that criminalize insulting the leadership. A separate article requires citizens to report any contact with government opponents, extending the incentive to inform beyond state security services into the population at large. Legal researchers reviewing the code have also flagged provisions dividing defendants into social categories, with punishment calibrated to status rather than offense, a structure that undercuts equal treatment under law well beyond the press freedom question alone.
The scale of the resulting collapse is difficult to overstate. RSF’s country data shows forty three percent of Afghan outlets disappeared within three months of the takeover, more than two thirds of the roughly twelve thousand journalists working in the country in 2021 have left the profession, and eight in ten women journalists have stopped working entirely. Behind each of those figures sits a newsroom that no longer exists or a byline that no longer appears, the practical result of a five year campaign that RSF’s South Asia desk head has described as turning criticism itself into a legal offense.
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None of this makes Afghanistan an isolated case, which is what gives the story weight beyond South Asia. RSF’s own 2026 index places Afghanistan’s collapse inside a broader global pattern: more than half the world’s countries now rate as difficult or very serious environments for journalism, the worst showing the index has recorded in a quarter century. The organization has also pointed to a specific mechanism spreading well beyond authoritarian states, in which national security and counterterrorism justifications, first normalized after the September 11 attacks, are increasingly invoked to restrict reporting on matters of public interest, a pattern RSF says now appears in established democracies as well as in regimes like Afghanistan’s. Afghanistan represents the extreme endpoint of that continuum rather than an exception to it, which is precisely why treating it as a uniquely Afghan problem understates the lesson.
The crackdown has also produced a measurable outflow with consequences well beyond Afghanistan’s borders. RSF data shows the number of countries journalists have been forced to flee from worldwide has doubled over five years, from nineteen to forty, with Afghanistan topping the list. Those journalists do not disappear once they cross a border. Pakistan and Iran, the two most common host states, have each carried out mass deportations of Afghan refugees through 2026, and independent reporting from RSF and Human Rights Watch has documented Afghan journalists, including some holding valid visas, among those detained and forcibly returned toward the same authorities they fled. Resettlement pipelines to Europe and North America have slowed at the same time, leaving exiled journalists in prolonged legal limbo in third countries with limited protection. For policymakers well outside the region, that combination turns a domestic censorship story into a live test of asylum and non return commitments.
The most likely trajectory is continued institutionalization rather than reversal. The Taliban leadership has shown no interest in press freedom as a bargaining chip for international recognition, and the shift from verbal directive to codified criminal law suggests an intent to make current restrictions permanent rather than negotiable. This path is highly likely through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027, with enforcement of the new code expanding province by province and further directives layered on top of an already dense regulatory web.
A second, less likely path involves narrow, tactical loosening tied to international engagement. If the Taliban pursues formal recognition or unlocked aid financing, cosmetic concessions on foreign broadcasters or select outlets are possible, mirroring past patterns of selective accommodation when the leadership has wanted to project moderation to specific foreign audiences. This outcome is possible but not likely to alter the underlying legal architecture, since Akhundzada’s own framing of criticism as a religious offense forecloses any structural reform led from within the leadership itself.
A third path, already underway, is a deepening exile crisis that draws in host and resettlement states more directly than the domestic censorship story alone ever could. Continued deportations from Pakistan and Iran, combined with stalled resettlement processing in Europe and North America, raise the probability of a high profile forced return case drawing sustained international attention, potentially forcing governments to clarify protection commitments to Afghan media workers in ways they have so far avoided through case by case handling. This path is likely to intensify over the next twelve months regardless of what happens inside Afghanistan itself, since it depends as much on Pakistani and Iranian deportation policy as on any Taliban decision.
Afghanistan’s press freedom collapse will keep being read as an isolated horror story unless it is placed against the trend line RSF itself is now drawing, in which national security framing, once confined to the world’s most repressive states, is migrating into ordinary governance practice elsewhere. The clearest near term indicator to track is enforcement, not legislation. The Code of Criminal Procedure has existed on paper since January 2026 without a confirmed public prosecution under its press relevant articles. The first documented case brought under Article 19 or Article 23 against a journalist or commentator will mark the moment Taliban media law moves from threat to precedent, and from precedent to template.
Here is the Los Angeles Times’ nine-part series on top returning high school football players for the 2026 season, plus preseason top 25 rankings.
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In separate speeches delivered a few hours apart, California’s two gubernatorial hopefuls stuck to familiar themes — offering a preview of the issues that could define the November election to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, sought to tie Republican rival Steve Hilton to President Trump during his remarks Wednesday at the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference in downtown L.A.
Hilton focused on his immigrant roots and how to help small businesses in California, and ignored Becerra’s attacks.
California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton speaks at the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials conference at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown on Wednesday.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Their appearances at the conference marked one of the first times both candidates have appeared at the same event since the June 2 primary.
Becerra, the former U.S. Health and Human Services secretary and former California attorney general, placed first in the primary, winning 28% of the vote. Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, followed with 24.6%.
Republicans make up only a quarter of registered voters in the state, so Hilton may face an uphill battle to victory in November.
Democrats, including Newsom, have sought attention by attacking Trump and defending California policies, and Becerra appeared to lean into that approach on Wednesday.
Without mentioning Hilton or Trump by name, Becerra labeled the president a “false” prophet during his 10-minute address.
“We don’t need people who make a promise to end a war in one day, and today, we still fight it and others,” said Becerra, referring to the ongoing U.S. attacks on Iran. “We don’t need someone who said they will lower the price of gasoline and then raise it by starting a reckless, illegal war.”
California doesn’t “need those prophets and worse. And I tell you this — in California we will not accept their disciples,” said Becerra, seemingly referring to Hilton.
Hilton, who spoke for about five minutes, acknowledged he was endorsed by Trump. He then pivoted to the topic of immigration and alluded to the red tape and regulations in the state that he blames for hurting small businesses.
He recounted how his parents moved from Hungary to Britain, and then how he moved to California in 2012.
“That story of the immigrant aspiration, climbing the ladder of opportunity in a new country, that is my story,” Hilton said.
Hilton attended the University of Oxford and worked a senior advisor to former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron before moving to the state. He also talked about his time running restaurants.
“That is a really tough business, and it is especially tough today in California for small business owners, for working-class Californians, and that’s what I’m fighting for in this campaign,” he said.
Hilton said he is “not an ideologue,” and doesn’t “want to tell anyone how to live their life or run their business.”
“I just want everyone to have a shot at climbing that ladder of opportunity,” he said.
Becerra also chastised Hilton over an incident in May, when Hilton filmed himself eating a Del Taco taco, which he called a “street taco.”
Becerra, looking amused, told the NALEO audience that you don’t get street tacos “in some establishment that’s been around for a long time.”
“You get it on the street from the guy who’s been making it for a long time in his little cart,” he said.
Newsom and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) also previously spoke during the conference, which included discussion of the recent killings of immigrants by federal officers.
“The price of freedom, of democracy, of inclusion, is high,” said Becerra, adding that the price of “simply driving while brown” is “so high.”
phuttaphat tipsana/iStock via Getty Images
Healthcare equipment maker Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) is due to report second-quarter earnings on July 15, with analysts expecting a quarter of solid growth.
The consensus EPS Estimate for Intuitive Surgical is $2.50, representing a 14.2% Y/Y jump. On the revenue side, ISRG is projected to
The Williams sisters, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are back at Wimbledon. What year is it again?
The mention of those names may make it feel like we’re stuck in a timewarp – but, no, it is 2026 and some of the sport’s greatest are returning to SW19, in one way or another.
American icon Serena Williams, 44, is making a blockbuster singles comeback after four years away from the sport and also resumes her iconic doubles pairing with sister Venus, 46.
British legend Murray is back at the scene of his greatest triumphs as part of Jack Draper’s coaching team.
Djokovic, meanwhile, is only a week younger than 39-year-old Murray yet is still chasing that elusive record 25th Grand Slam title.
“It’s very special to be here – we have quite a history here. It’s nice to be back in 2026,” said Venus Williams, who has won five singles and six doubles titles at the All England Club.
As one of the highlights of the British sporting summer, Wimbledon never goes under the radar, but the presence of the old guard will help elevate the grass-court Grand Slam in a summer stacked with sporting events.
Eyeballs are inevitably trained on the men’s football World Cup, particularly with England still in the competition, while the women’s T20 cricket World Cup and British Grand Prix are also jostling for the limelight.
The appearance of the legends – along with younger superstars like Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, plus the high-profile return of Briton Jack Draper – will ensure Wimbledon will remain at the centre of attention.
“We’re always unbelievably excited to be part of an exciting summer of sport,” Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker told BBC World Service.
“Every summer there are always other big events on and I think that does add to the buzz around sport in general. We do love being part of that.”
The city witnessed Carl Lewis win four Olympic gold medals, cheered Valerie Brisco-Hooks’ historic golden double and watched Edwin Moses extend his 400-meter hurdles unbeaten streak. L.A. has history with track and field.
Now when Ato Boldon, a UCLA Hall of Famer and four-time Olympic medalist for Trinidad and Tobago, looks to this weekend’s L.A. Grand Prix and the city’s future with the sport, he wonders what it holds.
“I’ve always felt like L.A. needs a signature event,” Boldon said, “and with the Olympics coming up in two years, you look at the quality of this event this weekend, and you’re like, yeah, this is the kind of meet they should have all the time.”
At the halfway mark of the Olympic quadrennium, the USA Track & Field event serves as an important checkpoint for the sport’s hope to break out of the four-year popularity cycle.
The two-day event, which begins Saturday with the women’s hammer throw at the South Bay Athletic Club, features 18 Olympic or world champions competing primarily at USC’s Allyson Felix Field. Sunday’s marquee competition beginning at 1 p.m. will be televised on NBC.
With USA Track & Field building toward a home Olympics, L.A. has been a critical but stubborn market to conquer. Last year’s L.A. Grand Prix, which would have been the third edition of the meet, was canceled in April. The decision, USA Track & Field Chief Executive Max Siegel said, came down to another meet scheduled in the same venue within the same month.
But that competing event, part of Michael Johnson’s upstart Grand Slam Track league, was canceled only weeks before it was set to take place at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, leaving L.A. without a major track competition last summer.
“We knew last year when we canceled the meet that we had every intention leading up to the Olympics to be present in the L.A. market,” Siegel said.
The city knows great track. UCLA boasts legends such as Rafer Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith-Joyner. USC, which boasts more Olympians than any other U.S. university, had athletes win nine Olympic medals in track and field at the 2024 Games in Paris, including double gold medals for Rai Benjamin in the 400-meter hurdles and 4×400-meter relay and a 4×100-meter relay championship for TeeTee Terry.
After Terry ran the second leg of the relay, Sha’Carri Richardson’s stare down at the end of her anchor leg became one of the iconic shots of the Paris Games, where 70,000 people packed Stade de France and millions more tuned in for one of the most-watched Olympics.
But the sport is back in the shadows like it always seems to be outside of Olympic years, said Boldon, now NBC Sports’ track and field analyst. There have been several attempts to penetrate the U.S. sports consciousness since the successful Paris Games. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian launched Athlos, a women’s track and field meet that began in New York City in 2024 and added a stop in London to its 2026 schedule. Grand Slam Track, founded by the Olympic legend Johnson and touting major names including Gabby Thomas and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, filed for bankruptcy last year, after completing only three of four planned events in its first season, and is only now emerging from it.
This year’s inaugural USATF Tour aims to organize the fragmented sport by streamlining the calendar and working with existing event coordinators to provide resources, including prize money and travel for top athletes, marketing and drug testing. The tour, which was in College Station, Texas, last week for the Lone Star Grand Prix, has 17 events in 10 states.
American Tara Davis-Woodhall after winning the women’s long jump at the 2025 world championships in Tokyo.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
“I feel like LA28 gives the country something to organize around,” said Siegel, who hopes track and field can rise to be among the five most popular sports in the United States. “People are paying more attention to athlete stories in anticipation of what’s going to happen on U.S. soil.”
There is no shortage of stories at the L.A. Grand Prix. Almost everyone who matters in American track and field will be there, Boldon said. Kenny Bednarek, the silver medalist in the 200 meters in Paris, will line up in the 100 meters against Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who took gold in the 200 in 2024.
Tara Davis-Woodhall, the reigning Olympic long jump champion, will compete in her signature event and race in the 100-meter hurdles for just the second time in the last five years. Her husband, Hunter Woodhall, will race in the 400 meters on Saturday, when Para athletes will be among those competing in the L.A. Distance Classic at Allyson Felix Field.
Richardson will run her first 100-meter race of the season. The 2024 Olympic silver medalist could be in line to end a three-decade gold medal drought in 2028. No U.S. woman has stood atop an Olympic podium for the 100 since 1996, when Gail Devers won in Atlanta.
Such a stacked field outside of an Olympic year on U.S. soil could be a sign of a changing tide for track and field, Boldon said. The L.A. Grand Prix is a gold-level event on the World Athletics Continental Tour, the second-highest tier of single-day international competition. As athletes vie for world ranking points, the event could be a true Olympic preview two years before the Games begin at the Coliseum.
“This,” Boldon said, “is not a normal week in our sport.”
Previous World Cup appearances: 0
Player to watch: Mousa Tamari
FIFA world ranking: 63
Jordan are appearing at the World Cup finals for the first time, with their Moroccan coach Jamal Sellami hoping that his players can emulate the heroics of The Atlas Lions four years ago.
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“In big competitions, many teams can surprise. My country, Morocco, reached the semifinals in the last World Cup,” the Reuters news agency quoted him as saying during a training camp in Antalya, Turkiye, in late March.
“That gives us belief.”
While a run to the semifinals might be a little bit optimistic, Jordan are coming into the tournament on a good run of form.
The Middle East nation reached the final of the 2023 Asian Cup, losing to hosts Qatar, and also played Morocco in the final of the 2025 Arab Cup, agonisingly falling short in a 3-2 defeat after extra time.
Jordan also scored 32 goals in World Cup qualifying, marking their highest tally in a single qualification campaign. But eight of those goals were scored by Yazan Alnemat, who will miss this summer’s tournament due to injury.
The Al-Nashama, or the “noble ones”, have developed into a significant force in Arab football since Sellami took over as coach in June 2024 and built on the work of his predecessor, compatriot Hussein Ammouta.
Sellami believes the team he has built can deliver a shock similar to Algeria beating Germany in 1982, Cameroon stunning reigning champions Argentina in 1990, and Senegal repeating the feat against holders France in 2002.
“These results open horizons of hope and ambition for the fans, so they can dream,” Sellami, who played for Morocco at the 1998 World Cup, told Arabic sports channel TFK.
“And we too have the right to dream and to strive to be a strong team and present ourselves well,” he added.
The 55-year-old former midfielder has built a well-structured, disciplined team that utilises their wealth of creative forward talent to hit opponents on the break with lightning-quick transitions.
While Jordan’s qualifying campaign gives them plenty of hope for this summer’s tournament, their team in North America will be missing a big part of what made them such a force in Asian qualifying.
Forward Yazan Alnemat contributed eight goals, but will miss the World Cup finals after suffering an ACL injury in the Arab Cup quarterfinals last December.
“Yazan is a player who cannot be replaced,” conceded Sellami. “But we will find a combination for the team that can still be dangerous to the opponent, and that also gives us balance in our defensive performance.”
Alnemat’s likely replacement, Ali Olwan, has recovered from an Achilles injury sufficiently to take his place in Sellami’s extended squad. He contributed nine goals in qualifying, highlighting Jordan’s depth in attacking options.
Captain Mousa Tamari is one of Jordan’s biggest attacking threats and will be looking to torment defenders on the right wing.
The 28-year-old Rennes midfielder is the only Jordan player who competes in one of Europe’s top five leagues and has enjoyed a strong season in France, scoring seven goals and grabbing 11 assists in 36 appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit.
He’s also been a key player at international level, scoring 23 goals in 76 appearances for the Jordan national team.
If Jordan are to upset the odd’s at this summer’s World Cup, they will need to rely heavily on the man known as “Jordan’s Messi”.
Defending champions Argentina provide formidable opposition in Jordan’s final game in Group J, with the real Messi squaring up against his Jordanian counterpart.
Sellami’s side will face Austria in their opening match in San Francisco, with the European nation making their first appearance at the World Cup since 1998.
Jordan are the lowest-ranked team in their group, but perhaps their best opportunity of success will come against the second-lowest-ranked side, Algeria.
The African side recorded eight wins in World Cup qualifying and will look to Riyad Mahrez to provide goals and assists.
⚽ June 16: Austria v Jordan (San Francisco Bay Area, US), 9pm (04:00 GMT on June 17).
⚽ June 22: Jordan v Algeria (San Francisco Bay Area, US), 8pm (03:00 GMT on June 23).
⚽ June 27: Jordan v Argentina (Dallas, Texas, US), 9pm (02:00 GMT on June 28).
A fight for third in their group, but ultimately, qualification for the knockouts may be a stretch for Jordan.
Goalkeepers: Yazeed Abulaila (Al-Hussein), Abdullah al-Fakhouri (Al-Wehdat), Noor Bani Attiah (Al-Faisaly).
Defenders: Abdallah Nasib (Al-Zawraa), Ehsan Haddad, Saed al-Rosan, Saleem Obaid (Al-Hussein), Yazan al-Arab (FC Seoul), Mohammad Abualnadi (Selangor), Husam Abu Dahab, Anas Banawi (Al-Faisaly), Mohannad Abu Taha (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Mohammad Abu Hasheesh (Al-Karma).
Midfielders: Noor Al-Rawabdeh (Selangor), Nizar al-Rashdan (Qatar), Ibrahim Saadeh (Al-Karma), Rajaei Ayed, Mahmoud Al-Mardi (Al-Hussein), Amer Jamous (Al-Zawraa), Mohammad al-Dawoud (Al-Wehdat).
Forwards: Mousa Tamari (Rennes), Odeh al-Fakhouri (Pyramids), Mohammad Abu Zrayq (Raja Casablanca), Ali Azaizeh (Al-Shabab), Ibrahim Sabra (Lokomotiva Zagreb), Ali Olwan (Al-Sailiya).
Previous World Cup appearances: 6
Best performance: Fourth place (2022)
First appearance: 1970 (Mexico)
Top goal scorer: Youssef En-Nesyri (3)
Most appearances: Achraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech (10)
Player to watch: Brahim Diaz
FIFA world ranking: 8
The FIFA World Cup begins on June 11. You can follow the action on Al Jazeera’s dedicated World Cup 2026 page with all the latest news, match build-up and live text commentary, and keep up to date with group standings, real-time match results and schedules.
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Four years ago, the Morocco made history by becoming the first African and Arab team to reach the World Cup semifinals in Qatar, eliminating Spain and Portugal along the way, before narrowly losing to France.
They come into the 2026 edition again boasting a strong squad and hoping to replicate – or go even further – than their sensational 2022 run.
However, the Atlas Lions also find themselves in rather more chaotic circumstances this time around with a managerial departure less than three months out from the tournament, and bruised by a wild Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final that provoked a diplomatic row with Senegal.
The squad is still dealing with the fallout from one of the most incendiary episodes in African football history.
January’s final in Rabat descended into chaos when Senegal’s players walked off the pitch in protest after Morocco were awarded a contentious stoppage-time penalty following a VAR review with the game at 0-0.
The decision to award the spot kick sparked trouble among the Senegal fans in the crowd. Eighteen spectators were were later jailed following the disruption.
After Senegal finally returned to the pitch after a lengthy delay, Real Madrid and Morocco star Brahim Diaz missed the penalty with a poor attempt at a panenka. Senegal went on to win the game 1-0 with a goal in extra-time.
However, the saga did not end there. In March, CAF stripped Senegal of the title and awarded it to Morocco, ruling that Senegal had forfeited the game by leaving the pitch.
Senegal have appealed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and have made allegations against CAF and Morocco.
For the Atlas Lions, being belatedly crowned champions by officials has done little to ease the pain as well as a sense of injustice, and the ongoing saga continues to leave a toxic fallout for the team.
Walid Regragui, the coach who masterminded the 2022 run, parted ways with the team in March.
It is likely that he ultimately paid the price after the manner of Morocco’s narrow defeat to Senegal in the AFCON final on home soil, as well as reported arguments between him and the country’s football federation over the direction of the team.
His replacement, Mohamed Ouahbi, led Morocco’s Under-20 side to the 2025 Youth World Cup title as the federation said a “strategic decision” was behind the appointment.
“It’s a desire not to waste time and to take a different direction,” a source close to the federation told the AFP news agency.
But for Ouahbi, 49, stepping up to a first senior World Cup under such acrimonious circumstances is an extremely challenging task – especially as he has only ever managed youth teams in his career.
“I’m not here to build, because the foundations are already in place. I’m here to keep performing,” Ouahbi said after his appointment.
Whether the new coach has the authority and tactical acuity to thrive at the highest level remains to be seen, and it will be a bit of a baptism of fire.
Up until that penalty miss, talented forward Brahim Diaz had been the best player at the tournament, driving Morocco to the final as he won the Golden Boot with five goals.
The Real Madrid playmaker is quick, clever and capable of producing something out of nothing – giving Morocco a touch of genuine magic between the lines.
He may be carrying a psychological weight into this tournament after the AFCON final fracas, but Morocco will hope he will channel that frustration into having an outstanding World Cup.
While much of the squad is fairly well established, the exciting 18-year-old Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who has switched allegiances after representing France at junior level, made the squad.
“A dream come true, but above all the start of a new chapter, with even more work, rigour and responsibilities,” Bouaddi said on X.
“I am aware of the privilege I have to defend these colours, and I will give everything to represent my country in the best possible way.
“A thought also for France. My choice in no way diminishes the pride and gratitude for having been able to wear that jersey in my youth.”
Perhaps surprisingly, Youssef En-Nesyri, who scored the winning goal against Portugal in the 2022 quarterfinal, did not make the cut.
Elsewhere, Bilal El Khannouss is a highly technical and creative attacking midfielder, while Sofyan Amrabat gives the side combative energy in defence.
Marseille defender Nayef Aguerd has been selected, despite not playing since March due to injury.
Last season, the PSG right back scored 11 goals and provided 14 assists en route to helping his club win a historic treble of the Champions League, Ligue 1 and the French Cup – he was subsequently named CAF African Player of the Year.
This season has been less productive so far in terms of goals and assists. Hakimi increasingly attracts intense attention from opponents keen to neutralise his threat. His season has also been overshadowed by issues off the pitch as it was announced earlier this year that he will stand trial for rape in France – allegations which Hakimi denies.
Despite the off-field issues and reduced returns this season, his overlapping runs, delivery and goalscoring threat – on top of his defensive prowess – arguably means he remains the best right back in the world.
Group C certainly has its challenges for Morocco, not least in their opening game against Brazil. While the Brazilians no longer quite hold the fear factor of previous tournaments, they are still packed with quality.
Nevertheless, Morocco will fancy their chances of getting something from that game and sending a statement to their rivals.
Easier ties await after that, and although an improving Scotland are no pushovers and Haiti could provide an unknown quantity, Morocco should be winning both of those games if they are to mount a serious push for the title.
Morocco also faced Brazil and Scotland in the France 1998 World Cup. The Atlas Lions put in a respectable performance then – recording a 3-0 win over Scotland while losing by the same score to Brazil and drawing with Norway – but finished third in the group and failed to progress to the round of 16.
⚽ June 13: Brazil vs Morocco (New Jersey, US), 6pm ET (22:00 GMT).
⚽ June 19: Scotland vs Morocco (Boston, US), 6pm ET (22:00 GMT).
⚽ June 24: Morocco vs Haiti (Atlanta, Georgia), 6pm ET (22:00 GMT).
Last 16.
An inexperienced coach and turmoil around the squad will probably lead them to fall short of matching their 2022 exploits.
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal), Munir Mohamedi (RS Berkane), Ahmed Tagnaouti (Royal Armed Forces).
Defenders: Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Anass Salah-Eddine (PSV Eindhoven), Youssef Belammari (Al Ahly), Nayef Aguerd (Marseille), Chadi Riad (Crystal Palace), Issa Diop (West Ham United), Redouane Halhal (KV Mechelen), Achraf Hakimi (Paris St-Germain), Zakaria El Ouahdi (Genk).
Midfielders: Samir El Mourabet (Strasbourg), Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille), Neil El Aynaoui (Roma), Sofyan Amrabat (Real Betis), Azzedine Ounahi (Girona), Bilal El Khannouss (Stuttgart), Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven).
Forwards: Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland), Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos), Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid), Yassine Gessime (Strasbourg), Ayoub Amaimouni-Echghouyabe (Eintracht Frankfurt).
Previous World Cup appearances: 16
Best performance: Winners (1966)
First appearance: 1950 (Brazil)
Top goal scorer: Gary Lineker (10)
Most appearances: Peter Shilton (18)
Player to watch: Harry Kane
FIFA world ranking: 4
Fixtures: Croatia (June 17, Dallas), Ghana (June 23, Boston), Panama (June 27, New York)
It has now been 60 years of hurt for England, who lifted their only World Cup title in 1966. But while the Three Lions are certainly genuine contenders this time around, they come into the 2026 edition in a rather unsettled mood.
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The Three Lions strolled through their group, becoming the first European team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as they booked their place with two games to spare.
However, it’s fair to say that it was not the toughest group, and their performances in recent friendlies have drawn boos from fairly unenthused Wembley crowds, not least the defeats to Senegal and Japan.
Can England get a tune out of the likes of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane? Can the Three Lions find a way back to playing entertaining football? And does coach Thomas Tuchel actually know his best team?
The German manager’s squad selection raised a few eyebrows as several key names were left out amid a few surprise inclusions.
Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Man City’s Phil Foden, two of England’s most creative players, did not make the cut after disappointing seasons, while Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Man United’s Harry Maguire also missed out.
Meanwhile, striker Ivan Toney – who plays for Saudi Arabia for Al-Ahli and has barely featured for England under Tuchel – has made the squad, along with some other debatable choices in Tottenham’s Djed Spence, Brentford’s 35-year-old midfielder Jordan Henderson, and Bayer Leverkusen defender Jarell Quansah.
Nine members of the 26-man squad have no previous tournament experience.
Tuchel defended his selections by stressing the importance of unity.
“From day one, we were clear that we are trying to select and build the best possible team, which is not necessarily to select and collect the 26 most talented players,” Tuchel told reporters.
“Teams win championships. It’s as simple as that. Everything I know and hear about international football is that it is about the team and the chemistry.”
England’s previous boss Gareth Southgate had his detractors, namely over in-game decisions and for presiding over some pretty stodgy, risk-averse football at times. But he did take England to the finals of two European Championships, as well as a World Cup semifinal in 2018.
In addition to contending with this record, the former Chelsea and PSG boss Tuchel has also faced criticism over the failure to improve England’s style of play, which is still often marred by slow, sideways passes.
And while it’s logical to experiment, it’s also not clear he really knows his best team, and attempts to play a false nine or two number 10s have not come off.
Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that Tuchel is an elite manager and his solid, well-organised England side won their group with a 100 percent record (eight wins from eight), including tough wins away at Serbia and Albania, and conceded zero goals in the process.
Amid some consternation among the tabloid press over appointing a German to the role, Tuchel would delight in confounding the naysayers by leading the England men’s side to a first major trophy since 1966.
Despite winning the golden boot at the 2018 World Cup, England have often failed to get the best out of their captain and record goalscorer at major tournaments.
By the end of a long season, Kane is frequently struggling for fitness and contending with knocks, and often comes into major tournaments looking off the pace.
However, if England can field a relatively fresh Kane in North America, the 33-year-old should be high on confidence following his best-ever season in front of goal.
Kane has averaged more than a goal a game on his way to scoring 61 times in 51 appearances across all competitions for Bayern Munich, who were crowned Bundesliga champions in April but were defeated by PSG in the Champions League semifinal.
England’s captain also has his country’s World Cup scoring record in sight as he needs just two more strikes to equal Gary Lineker’s record of 10 goals in the tournament.
Bellingham is perhaps the most effective out of several talented England number 10s, but the 22-year-old has had a frustrating club season as he has contended with injuries and his side’s frequently poor form, and accordingly, his England appearances have also been sporadic recently.
Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers may have staked a strong claim to start ahead of him based on appearances under Tuchel and his sparkling club form.
Bellingham can also play further back in midfield, but assuming that Declan Rice and Eliot Anderson are fairly nailed on as holding midfielders, there may not be a space for him there either. So the Real Madrid player may have to initially look to make an impact from the bench.
England have probably not had a truly world-class left-back since Ashley Cole. However, that may be about to change with the rapid rise of Nico O’Reilly.
The 21-year-old Manchester City player also offers an attacking threat as he has grabbed seven goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, and scored a brace as City won the League Cup final.
While some of these goals have come from midfield, O’Reilly looks to have the defensive skills and positional nous to become a world-class full back – although he’s still a work in progress.
Group L contains some tricky opponents, and England face a particularly tough opener against 11th-ranked Croatia, who beat England in the 2018 semifinal.
Panama are ranked a perhaps surprisingly high 33rd and beat the United States en route to becoming CONCACAF Nations League runners-up last year.
And while 74th-ranked Ghana are the four-seeded underdogs, they could also pose a stiff test as they boast the likes of Antoine Semenyo and Mohammed Kudus.
⚽ June 17: England vs. Croatia (Arlington, Texas, US), 4pm (20:00 GMT)
⚽ June 23: England vs. Ghana (Foxborough, Massachusetts, US), 4pm (20:00 GMT)
⚽ June 27: Panama vs. England (East Rutherford, New Jersey, US), 5pm (21:00 GMT)
Quarterfinals.
Is it coming home? Probably not, but England still expects.
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), James Trafford (Man City)
Defenders: Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), John Stones (Man City), Marc Guehi (Man City), Dan Burn (Newcastle), Nico O’Reilly (Man City), Djed Spence (Tottenham), Tino Livramento (Newcastle)
Midfielders: Declan Rice (Arsenal), Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal)
Forwards: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Noni Madueke (Arsenal)
Previous World Cup appearances: 11
Best performance: Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)
First appearance: 1934 (Italy)
Top goal scorer: Johnny Rep (7)
Most appearances: Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie (17)
Player to watch: Tijjani Reijnders
FIFA world ranking: 7
The Netherlands have never fulfilled their potential at the World Cup – they lost all three finals they reached (1974, 1978, 2010). The 1988 Euro winning cohort did not even come close to replicating their European success on the global stage.
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But while previous golden generations repeatedly fell short, this more unheralded side should not be discounted too hastily.
The Dutch were unbeaten across their eight qualifiers, although Poland held them to draws.
With commanding defenders, a midfield of genuine class, and enough attacking options to cause problems for any defence, this Netherlands side have a outside chance of lifting the trophy for the first time.
Man City’s Tijjani Reijnders has steadily established himself as one of the finest midfielders in Europe over the last few seasons season and arrives at this tournament in fine fettle.
After two outstanding years at AC Milan, where he was named Serie A Best Midfielder of the season, he joined City in 2025 and has adapted well to life under Pep Guardiola, even if he is not always in the starting XI.
While he has grabbed five goals and two assists across 28 Premier League appearances this season, these relatively modest headline numbers do not tell the full story of his influence – especially at the international level.
Reijnders is the Netherlands’s all-action man – he gets forward and links defence and attack, breaks up opponents’ attacks, and is a classy, assured presence on the ball.
Generally, when he plays well, so do the Netherlands.
Liverpool legend Virgil van Dijk may not quite be the force he was a few years ago, but he remains a world-class, richly experienced centre back.
He leads a talented defence that also features the likes of Micky van de Ven, Jurrien Timber and Jan Paul van Hecke.
Ahead of them, Ryan Gravenberch, outstanding for Liverpool over the last couple of seasons, shields the defence and is also capable of mounting dangerous forays forward.
His teammate Cody Gakpo offers a significant threat out wide and in front of goal, and has been one of Liverpool’s better performers in a poor season for the 2024/25 Premier League champions.
The Netherlands received a huge blow in April when playmaker Xavi Simons ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Tottenham. Arguably the most important creative Dutch player, he will be on the sidelines for months and has no chance of making the tournament.
Memphis Depay, now his nation’s all-time leading scorer with 55 goals in 108 caps, usually provides the focal point up front, although his inconsistency has been a source of frustration for clubs and country alike.
He was named in the squad, despite only two substitute appearances for his Brazilian club Corinthians over the past two months, as he has struggled to recover from a hamstring injury.
“I selected Memphis because of who he still is. I don’t see anyone else in that position who can do it. I believe he can be an asset, but he does have to get through the coming period well,” coach Ronald Koeman said.
Arsenal defender Timber is also a concern as a groin injury has kept him on the sidelines since March, and he will certainly need time to get match-sharp.
“We have Ian Maatsen and Lutsharel Geertruida on the standby list for Timber. The situation with him is that he was supposed to train with Arsenal today, to assess for the weekend. They have the Champions League final on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether he will be fit for that match,” Koeman said.
This is Koeman’s second stint in charge of the national team, having previously managed them from 2018 to 2020.
After the Dutch failed to reach Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, Koeman secured qualification for Euro 2020, but left before the tournament to manage Barcelona.
After struggling in his recent club roles, Koeman returns to take the reins again. He was a popular figure with the players during his last stint and commands respect as a legend of Dutch football, and he will face a tough task to balance his world-class talent with a squad that is patchy in places.
He will be hoping at least to not have to deal with the fractious egos and strong personalities that undermined very strong Dutch sides in the past. This current squad does not outwardly appear to be as combustible as previous iterations.
Group F should offer the Netherlands a relatively comfortable route to the last 32.
The toughest game is likely to be the opener against Japan, themselves a talented side considered to be dark horses, who recently defeated England at Wembley in a friendly.
Sweden had a terrible qualifying campaign but qualified through the playoffs via the Nations League, and nevertheless have plenty of dangerous players, such as Victor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga.
The final group game against Tunisia should be more straightforward, as the North Africans lack real star quality – although they tend to be obdurate opponents that are hard to break down in major tournaments.
⚽ June 14: Netherlands vs Japan (Dallas, United States), 4pm ET (20:00 GMT)
⚽ June 20: Netherlands vs Sweden (Houston, United States) 1pm ET (17:00 GMT)
⚽ June 24: Tunisia vs Netherlands (Kansas City, United States), 7pm ET (23:00 GMT)
Last 16.
While the Dutch boast undoubted talent, it does not elite enough or cohere enough into a team that is bigger than the sum of its parts.
Goalkeepers: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton), Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen).
Defenders: Jurrien Timber (Arsenal), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Nathan Ake (Manchester City), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea), Denzel Dumfries (Inter), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton).
Midfielders: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Quinten Timber (Marseille), Guus Til (PSV Eindhoven), Mats Wieffer (Brighton).
Forwards: Brian Brobbey (Sunderland), Memphis Depay (Corinthians), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Noa Lang (Galatasaray), Donyell Malen (Roma), Crysencio Summerville (West Ham), Wout Weghorst (Ajax).